Trader Joe's Co. Inc.

Reader: Without Trader Joe's, we have not really been living

While King Soopers has pulled out of the project set for the former University of Colorado Health Sciences Center at Ninth and Colorado Boulevard, last month construction got under way on the first Trader Joe's in Denver -- just down the street. A second Trader Joe's is going into Boulder, but this ... More >>

Twenty-three products that are trending at Trader Joe's -- and might show up in Denver

I spent the last week in California, splitting my time between Los Angeles, where I had a stellar dinner at Night Market, a Thai restaurant that pimps everything from fried pigs' tail to pigs' blood, and Newport Beach, a city whose restaurant scene is depressing, save for Pizzeria Mozza -- and eve ... More >>

Trader Joe's begins building its first Denver store

Five months after getting its liquor license, Trader Joe's has finally begun work on its first Denver store, located at the corner of Eighth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. Bulldozers began rolling at 790 Colorado Boulevard, where there will eventually be an 18,000-square-foot outlet of the Californi ... More >>

Walmart coming to Boulder -- and sh*t heading for fan

Boulder and Walmart are an unlikely combination. But after months of speculation, rumors and protests, it now appears that one of the nation's most progressive communities will soon be home to the retailer most liberals love to hate. And judging by early reaction to reports that a Walmart will be in ... More >>

Here, transplants, have Denver: It's all yours (except for Hooters)

This past weekend, I flew to Chicopee, Massachusetts, to look at some babies. When my good friends had twins late last year, I immediately started planning to go and stare at them as soon as was humanly possible, because I knew these twins were going to be really cute and probably perfect. They were ... More >>

King Soopers plan at 9th and Colorado: Will it calm critics of Walmart at today's meeting?

Last week, the mayor's office confirmed that Fuqua Development and its capital partner, the Lionstone Group, were negotiating with King Soopers regarding the anchor retail spot in a revised development plan for the former CU Health Sciences Center property at East Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard ... More >>

From a Colorado native to a transplant: Your altitude problem is my attitude problem

I was complaining via that modern adult whiny message board known as Twitter recently that the only people who like John Denver are non-natives. I also blame those same anonymous people for Denver's traffic, gentrification, the popularity of days-long dubstep shows at Red Rocks (and the sickening po ... More >>

Trader Joe's gets its retail liquor license in Denver

We can almost taste the Two Buck Chuck. The Trader Joe's store that will be located at 790 Colorado Boulevard had a date with the city last Friday for a hearing on its liquor-license application -- and the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses just approved its retail liquor store license, which ... More >>

Walmart pulls out of old CU campus site near Trader Joe's project most neighbors embrace

The celebration started late yesterday afternoon in the neighborhoods around Ninth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard, as news spread that Walmart had pulled out of the project that Jeff Fuqua plans to put in the old University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. If the timing had been a little differen ... More >>

Walmart meeting cancelled after councilmembers oppose tax-increment deal

For a while, it looked like Walmart had Denver in the bag. But now, developers are going back to the drawing board...or at least the calender. After Denver City Council reps Mary Beth Susman and Jeanne Robb announced they opposed tax-increment financing for the project, the Colorado Boulevard Health ... More >>

Walmart opponents ask Colorado Boulevard Healthcare District for a place at the podium

While the area around the new University of Colorado Health Sciences Center is booming, the buildings CU left behind a decade ago stand abandoned, and the property is now on its third developer. The city is ready for something, anything, to go there. Well, maybe not anything, say the Walmartyrs.

Reader: Who says Walmart's practices are worse than Trader Joe's? Walmartyrs

Patricia Calhoun's recent post about comparing Walmart and Trader Joe's from a red state v. blue state perspective revved up one reader, who questions the assumption of progressives that one firm's business practices are radically different from the other. Here's the post.

Walmart v. Trader Joe's: Red state or blue?

Colorado is the purplest of states, with voters almost equally divided between Democrat, Republican and unaffiliated, and Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in a dead heat here. But there's another contest that also shows the red state/blue state pull: The debate over

Blue state v. red state: Which Colorado do you live in?

Colorado is a key swing state in the upcoming presidential election. In polls, Colorado looks like a toss-up between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama, with leads shifting back and forth by the day -- and which way the vote ultimately goes could decide the national outcome. By the numbers, though, this s ... More >>

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney covet Colorado's swingers

Exactly four years after Barack Obama accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in Denver, he returned to Colorado, telling a crowd of students and other fans at Colorado State University that this state's vote is key in his re-election -- and that whoever wins Colorado will win the presidency ... More >>

Everybody loves a good Walmart protest

Death of the civil unions bill got you down? Just do what I'm doing, and marry a gay guy

After sitting through two recesses and a combined seven hours of debate and testimony before the House State Affairs Committee killed the civil unions bill last night, I left the Capitol with a numb ass and a heavy heart. But as I and other GLBTQ persons and allies face another year of Colorado legi ... More >>

Reader: Trader Joe's at Eighth and Colorado is all kinds of wrong

On Friday the Denver Business Journal broke the news that Trader Joe's would be opening its second store at Eighth and Colorado Boulevard. (The first -- which means the one that also gets to sell liquor under Colorado's convoluted code -- will debut next year in Boulder's Twenty Ninth Street develop ... More >>

Trader Joe's to open second Colorado store on Eighth Avenue

Trader Joe's has signed a deal for its first location in Denver, according to this story in the Denver Business Journal. The store will be on the southeast corner of Colorado Boulevard and Eighth Avenue, where Annie's Cafe was once located. The spot was supposed to become a hotel, but like so many ... More >>

StarLite Diner & Lounge will soon bring Boulder a taste of the 1950s

Chris Dailey -- owner of Boulder Creek Events and a pair of Flatiron Crossing restaurants, Street Legal Pizza and Street Legal Burgers - has had a lifelong fascination with America in the '50s. So when he found an open spot in Boulder's Twenty Ninth Street project (soon to be the home of Colorado's ... More >>

Top five reasons why people love Trader Joe's so f*@%ing much

​The prayers, pleas and entreaties of Coloradans have been heard, and we are finally getting a Trader Joe's store at the Twenty Ninth Street mall in Boulder in 2013. The hoopla surrounding this blessed event -- akin to the birth of the Christ child -- has some uninitiated locals wondering why ... More >>

Reader: Trader Joe's is finally coming. Would you drive to Boulder to shop there?

It's official: Yesterday, Trader Joe's confirmed that it will open its first Colorado location at the Twenty Ninth Street Mall in Boulder: a 14,000-square-foot store that is slated to open in 2013 at 1906 28th Street, where an Applebee's is currently located. Although the future Boulder store isn't ... More >>

Reader: Trader Joe's is not as great as people say

The news that Trader Joe's had filed papers with the Colorado Secretary of State's office to start doing business in Colorado -- specifically, at Boulder's Twenty-Ninth Street project -- has fans of the California-based, German-owned store salivating, extolling such Joe's specialities as Jalapeno Bl ... More >>

Sh*t People From Boulder Say: Our ten favorites in the Twitter trend

In the spirit of beating a dead horse, we're back with another update on Colorado's inclusion in the long-winded "Sh*t _______ Says" trend. Last week, Westword presented you with our video addition to the city's stereotypes, Sh*t People From Denver Say, but we're not the only area residents who have ... More >>

Trader Joe's product watch: Old Fashioned Cinnamon Grahams

As we anticipate the arrival of Colorado's first Trader Joe's, the California-based grocer with a cult-like following that's allegedly building its first Colorado store somewhere in Boulder's Twenty Ninth Street (three more Trader Joe's stores are rumored for Denver), we thought we'd give you a tast ... More >>

Bring it! Trader Joe's product watch: Jalapeno blue cornbread mix

As we anticipate the arrival of Colorado's first Trader Joe's, the California-based grocer with a cult-like following that's allegedly building its first Colorado store somewhere in Boulder's Twenty Ninth Street (three more Trader Joe's stores are rumored for Denver, including one at Eighth and Colo ... More >>

Is Trader Joe's coming to Boulder's 29th Street?

They better widen Highway 36. Trader Joe's could possibly, maybe, potentially be coming, finally, to Colorado -- but in Boulder, rather than Denver or its suburbs, according to a story this afternoon in the Daily Camera. Here's a piece of it: "A source close to the situation said the California gr ... More >>

Trader Joe's files paperwork to open its first Colorado stores

​In what could potentially be the biggest food-related news in Denver this year, Trader Joe's, the California-based grocer with a cult-like following, is finally coming to Colorado. The specialty retail market, renowned for its "Two Buck Chuck" (among other things), filed the necessary paperwo ... More >>

Reader: Steak 'n Shake opening in the same town as IKEA? Famous!

​On November 17, metro Denver will finally get its own Steak 'n Shake, a link in a chain that started in Normal, Illinois, back in 1934, and proclaims that it's "Famous for Steakburgers." Aimee can't wait:

Tesla Motors moves from Boulder's Pearl Street showroom to Park Meadows

Big pics below.​Back in 2009, we reported about the impending opening of a Tesla Motors outlet in Boulder, just in time for local shoppers to get a reported $42,000 tax credit for buying one of the sleek electric cars. Thank you, America! But less than two years later, the outlet -- which woun ... More >>

Reader: A downtown grocery store would help this food desert bloom

​The revelation that downtown might get a grocery store had urban residents clipping coupons and packing up their cloth bags. here's how Carly greeted the news: If Denver was set up to have a city block (or has one currently) where you could get meat, cheese, produce, sundries, etc on one b ... More >>

Top 10 grocers we'd love at 20th & Chestnut in downtown Denver (beyond Trader Joe's)

​As we reported yesterday, downtown Denver will finally get a full-service grocery store thanks to a new development at 20th Street and Chestnut Place. But other than hints that it will be a "national brand," there's no word yet as to which grocery store we're gonna get. Here are ten grocery ... More >>

National, full-service grocery store to open downtown in 2013: Could it be Trader Joe's?

The Mulhern Group​Urban grocery shoppers rejoice! In two years, Denver will finally boast a full-service grocery store in the heart of downtown. The mixed-use project, first reported by the DenverInfill blog, will be located at 20th Street and Chestnut Place, two blocks from Union Station, an ... More >>

Five new retail stores we'd like to see in Denver

​Now that IKEA and H&M have both signed on the dotted line in metro area, folks who've waited patiently for their first chance to walk in the door of either of those trendy Scandinavian outlets will finally have their day. But after those open, and we're all done dancing in the streets, what's ... More >>

Gourmet food trucks collide with confusing Denver regulations

​Gourmet food trucks were the surprise hit of 2010 -- by December, over 150 mobile food vendors had been licensed in Denver, which almost put the movement on par with the medical-marijuana dispensary business. And like dispensaries, the food trucks have been causing some headaches for the city ... More >>

Trader Joe's: Colorado would be more colorful if the store would join IKEA -- but will it?

​Colorado has incredible beauty, a colorful governor, and smart residents (and readers) who would prefer that tourists (especially Texans) stay home and wonder "Why do you need to spend money to advertise something that is timeless?" And although it doesn't have an ocean, it will soon have an ... More >>

Reader: Bag the obsession with Trader Joe's

​Denver native Jonathan Shikes has been chasing after stories about Trader Joe's -- and specifically, why there isn't one in Colorado -- for years. Yesterday, he served up the top items selling at Trader Joe's stores in 2010, prompting this response from DenverScener: Bottom line is that TJ i ... More >>

Trader Joe's still not in Colorado -- here's what you're missing

Arggghhh!​2010 has come and almost gone, and Colorado still doesn't have a Trader Joe's. And the state has few prospects of getting one. Are you bitter? We are, especially since we got a hold of the Trader Joe's list of its top-ten most popular products from 2010, which includes some of our f ... More >>

Einstein's is liberating its chickens -- or maybe it's not

​The Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, which owns several bagel and coffee chains, including Einstein Bros, recently announced that it will start using cage-free eggs in its stores. "We're proud to be launching this initiative and believe that moving in this direction will help improve the tre ... More >>

Trader Joe's hopes dry up along with grocery liquor-sales bill

​With the ground-breaking for an IKEA store in Centennial this week, Colorado came one step closer to becoming a shopper's mecca. But the state took a step back yesterday when HB 1279, which would have expanded alcohol sales in grocery stores, was killed -- and that means that Coloradans may n ... More >>

What Coloradans are missing at Trader Joe's this month

​What's so great about Trader Joe's? That's a hard question to answer if you haven't been there, and a rhetorical one if you have. Over the past decade, the California-based grocery chain has built a rabid following with its healthy bent, quirky products and typically low prices on everything ... More >>

Guess where I'm eating?

Lori Midson​Next week, I'm heading south to Santa Fe for a few days of eating, drinking and stuffing my trunk with all of my favorite foodstuffs from Trader Joe's. (Jealous, aren't you?) And in anticipation of my journey down the flat stretch of asphalt that'll eventually lead me to the land ... More >>

Things turn stormy for the Blue Sky Collective

Denver's top ten underutilized neighborhood business districts: The next hot 'hoods!

Denver Public LibraryIn 1986, before Highland Square was Highland Square​ I got into a conversation at a party this weekend about which neighborhood business district in Denver might emerge as the next cool place. Or, as real estate agents like to say, an "up-and-coming location." People who s ... More >>

Ask the Critic: What is Denver's food scene missing?

What we need are more of these. Lots more of these.​So here's a question for all you hardcore gastronauts out there: We all know that Denver is a good food town. There are seasons when it can almost feel like one of the great ones. We have fine dining and we have innovation, we have French, ... More >>

Judging Tony's by its cover

Jason SheehanSo I'm walking around over at Tony's, just trying to get a feel for the place and the lay of the land. And it's nice, sure. There's ten kinds of barbecue sauce, so many different kinds of mustard that the shelving unit looks like my fridge at home on a busy week (thirty kinds of musta ... More >>

If there's a grocery strike, what will you do?

A Flickr photoWorkers picket a California Albertsons in 2003 Have you worked out your supermarket strike plan? If you haven't, now might be a good time. Although the corporate execs and lawyers at Safeway, King Soopers and Albertsons are still negotiating with the familiar, name-tagged faces who ... More >>

Candy Girls: IKEA Chocolate Bars

Last week, Aubrey was off cavorting in San Diego while Liz was stuck at home, forced to sample some of the grossest candy in Candy Girls' history. It wasn't all fun and games for Aubrey, however, as she had promised to bring back strange and unknown treats from IKEA and Trader Joe's for us to samp ... More >>

King Aldo

Letters to the Editor

From the week of June 22.